“One of the greatest roles ever created by Western man has been the role of the Negro. One of the greatest actors to play this role has been the nigger.” - Henry Dumas

So Don Imus got sacked. The grumpy old man who personified the “angry white male” finally got what his hand or rather his mouth, called for. His racist and sexist comments about the women athletes of Rutgers University did not go unchecked despite an intensive “spin” campaign by many of his media colleagues and right wing conservative commentators who wanted to re-direct the focus away from Don Imus’s racist and sexist comments to some of the language that is used in Hip Hop and incredibly, I’m ashamed to say, it almost worked. Talk shows paraded an endless line of Black commentators who started to parrot that black people can’t get upset about Don Imus’ comments when we refer to ourselves and our women in degrading language in Hip Hop through the use of the term “Bitches” and “Hos” to describe our women and the use of the word “niggah” to define each other. Let it be clear there is no moral equivalence between Don Imus’ visceral racist and sexist comments and the use of degrading words towards Black women and men by ignorant or profit driven Hip Hop artists. Had Imus perceived the women of Rutgers University basketball team as simply rough looking women he could have easily described them as rough looking women. Instead he used terms which carried racial hostility and animus and demonstrated a dislike of both black women and strong women in general.

Don Imus’ racist and sexist comments came from an ingrained sense of white superiority and black inferiority. Like Michael Richard’s (aka Kramer’s) racist tirade in a comedy club last year, Don Imus’ comments were visceral and were deeply held beliefs and in the case of Don Imus, this was not his first time using a racist term when referring to Black people. The type of comments Don Imus uttered from the same region of the soul that was responsible for hanging Blacks from trees down south and turning loose rabid dogs and racist mobs on Black people marching and struggling to be recognized as humans. A century ago, Don Imus could have conceivably been at the head of a lynch mob terrorizing Black communities or addressing a gathering of the KKK in a southern field at night with an illuminated cross burning in the background.

The use of the term “bitches”, “hos” and “nigga” in Hip Hop is another matter and one in which I am also opposed to however the history behind the use of these terms do not carry the visceral history that accompanied the comments of Imus. These terms, while degrading to women and men of conscience are used by ignorant entertainers and profit driven entertainers. As modern day poets, troubadors and street prophets many of them are speaking the language of the streets and for better or worse, this is the terminology the streets are speaking. While there are some who find affection in calling each other “niggas” I am not one of them and I am opposed to its use as well as addressing women of color as bitches and hos. As a “brotha off the block”, I’ll admit I occasionally slip up and use the term, particularly when discussing Blacks I believe are sell outs and ventriloquists for white corporate america but I have made a conscious decision to eliminate those words from my vocabulary because they are insulting and degrade our people. The only way to eliminate them is through education and instilling self respect in the youth. We cannot legislate or protest these terms out of existence. The rappers and entertainers who use these self degrading terms are only ignorant “actors” playing out “roles” assigned to them by the same type of people, institutions and mindsets that created Don Imus. They are only puppets and one should not attack the puppets to only lose sight of the “puppet-masters”.

After the sacking of Don Imus, members of the CBS corporation and other media commentators called for a campaign against degrading language in the Hip Hop community. Out of the woodwork opportunists are lining up to take shots at the Hip Hop community through boycotts, protests and intimidation tactics. Kind of ironic that CBS corporation and its paid ventriloquists didn’t take on the Mega-Music companies responsible for promotiong much of the shallow Hip-Hop that is dominating the airwaves. Corporate music companies that are the reason “bling bling” and “black women” in thongs dominate the Hip Hop biz. Who would they rather have on the airwaves? Idiots extolling materialism or “Dead Prez” and Talib Kweli rapping about revolution, ending poverty, redistributing the wealth, freeing political prisoners, tearing down the prison walls , ending police brutality, empowering youth and women, bringing the troops home from Iraq, building a better educational system, free health care, access to jobs, ending racism, sexism, oppression and painting the White House black, etc. etc. These are real issues. The real issue ain’t Hip Hop. Corporate America ain’t going to cut it’s own hand off, especially not for Black folks.

The attention being focused on Hip Hop in the aftermath of Don Imus’ firing is a diversion from the real issue and a “get back” campaign by right wing conservatives who want us wasting our time fighting Hip Hop and each other instead of fighting the mindset and institutions that enabled Don Imus to remain a fixture on the airwaves in america for over 30 years. That’s the real issue. That is the issue we should be fighting and challenging. Not the Hip Hop community. Don’t fall for the diversion, or in the words of the street commentator Chuck D: Don’t Believe the Hype!

By Robert “Saleem” Holbrook
#BL-5140
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburgh, PA 15370